Raise your hand if you ever worked somewhere that gave you an ownership stake after one year. OK, and how many of those places also gave you a free custom bicycle? Or two free six-packs of beer every week?
If your hand is still up, it’s fair to assume you work for New Belgium Brewing Company. The beer company that started in 1991 purposely does things a little differently. Not only are the perks meant to be fun, but also a part of the company’s guiding beliefs. As noted in this CNN Money profile, according to CEO Kim Jordan, “Operating a business in a way that is consistent with your values is particularly pleasing.”
Part of those values include sustainability, which occupies a main section on the company’s website. There, they list the company strengths they have to leverage and the lofty goals they’ve set. Some of those strengths include using a brew kettle that increases efficiencies in the brewing process, having used wind-powered electricity since 1999 and being members of 1% For the Planet, in that 1 percent of their revenue goes toward environmental nonprofits.
Oh, and those one-year anniversary bicycles? They also act as an environmental statement. In fact, according to a Wall Street Journal article noting the company as one of the top small workplaces of 2008, roughly half of the Fort Collins, Colo.-based employees bicycle to work. So it probably shouldn’t surprise you that the name of their signature beer is none other than Fat Tire.